Office Talk with Annette Stepanian

Eavesdrop on these candid conversations with game-changing entrepreneurs and host, Annette Stepanian, as they share insights on how they’re designing a business and life on their terms. Also, Annette answers FAQs about law and your business in her Legal Quickie episodes.

This podcast has been a passion project for me and I'm beyond thrilled that we've made it a full year together. I've got some exciting things planned for the podcast in the next year that I think you’re going to love.

In this new episode, I thought it would be fun to take a look back on some of the lessons I’ve learned this past year about myself and my business. Some were inspired by conversations I’ve had with guests on this show, and others I’ve learned along the way. In fact this season, I’m going to be sharing more of these insights on the podcast.

This content is for your educational and informational purposes only and should not take the place of hiring an attorney. It does not create an Attorney-Client relationship between you and Annette Stepanian. Neither receipt of information presented nor any email or other electronic communication submitted or received will create an attorney-client relationship with Annette Stepanian. Any information that you provide by reason of your use of this content is not privileged or confidential. The law varies from state to state and based on the individual facts. Therefore, the information in this presentation may not work for your specific situation.

If you have specific legal questions, you should seek the advice of an attorney authorized to practice law in your local state or jurisdiction.

When I first started the podcast, one of the reasons I wanted to interview others in business was to learn how they were designing a business and life on their terms. After all, it was only a few years ago that I took the leap to leave a cushy and secure job to begin journey of redesigning my own life in a way that worked for me.

In this episode of Office Talk, I’m talking to Heather Crabtree, founder of the Savvy Community about her own journey from law, to running her own event planning business, to what she does today - helping other female entrepreneurs build successful businesses.

In this honest conversation, Heather reveals what her journey hasreallybeen like. Hint - it’s not always what it looks like from the outside.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

How Heather went from law, to running an event planning business, to the founder of the Savvy Business Owners’ Community where she teaches female entrepreneurs how to run a successful business

How the loss of a family member has shaped her perspective about life and business

How she’s been designing her business to make sure it fits with her life, not the otherway around

If you think she’s an overnight success, well here’s the real story

The “‘old fashion values” that are still working in business

Things to consider when transitioning from a solopreneur to building your team

Why she started the Savvy Business Owners Facebook Group and what she attributes to the success of growing the group

Are you gearing up to launch a new product or service? Anne Samoilov, creator of Fearless Launching, shared so many amazing tips for a successful (and yet simple!) launch in this episode of Office Talk.

In fact, even if you have no plans to launch anything right now, you still have to give this interview a listen. Anne’s tips are spot-on for any business owner to improve their ability to make decisions, plan, and execute effectively—in any area of their business, not just when it comes to launch time. It’s like we’re always launching, if you think about it. Every one of us has something we’re looking to get out into the world. Anne talks about how you can begin thinking with a launch mentality, not just for a successful launch, but also for a successful business.

The best part? Anne likes to keep things simple, so all of her tips are attainable and will save you so much time—and maybe even your sanity!

In this episode of Office Talk, I got a chance to chat with Shanna Skidmore, a business strategist and financial coach for creative entrepreneurs. I could definitely relate to Shanna, whose primary business goal is to simplify the seemingly daunting task of finance for her clients and set them up with the basic financial knowledge they need to take their businesses to the next level. For most creatives, finance and law can appear so overwhelming, but as Shanna shares with us, there are very few things you need to know, and once you know them, you’ll find it’s really not as complicated as you’d imagine.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

The most common pitfalls that Shanna sees creative entrepreneurs making and how to avoid them

How to calculate pricing based on profit and what to do if your prices are higher than you think clients are willing to pay

One of the first investments you need to make when you’re running a business is a solid set of contracts. But which ones do you need and why? In this episode, I’m sharing with you the four essential contracts that business owners should have when running a business. I’ll explain what they are and why they matter. Do you have all of them?

This content is for your educational and informational purposes only and should not take the place of hiring an attorney. It does not create an Attorney-Client relationship between you and Annette Stepanian. Neither receipt of information presented nor any email or other electronic communication submitted or received will create an attorney-client relationship with Annette Stepanian. Any information that you provide by reason of your use of this content is not privileged or confidential. The law varies from state to state and based on the individual facts. Therefore, the information in this presentation may not work for your specific situation.

If you have specific legal questions, you should seek the advice of an attorney authorized to practice law in your local state or jurisdiction.

Do you constantly daydream of new business ideas? You want to start a million projects, but you have a hard enough time getting to all those tasks already staring back at you on your to-list?

If anyone can give us insight on juggling multiple projects, it’s Eliana Baucicault of ellyB Events. In this episode of the Office Talk podcast, I’m chatting with Eliana about how she uses collaboration, delegation and the knowledge of her strengths and shortcomings to grow her business and her team. Eliana not only runs a busy event planning firm, but she also has a high-end modern loft and she hosts The B Academy group coaching program for wedding planners. As if this wasn’t enough, Eliana recently published B Inspired: The Book and in a few months will be launching a magazine as well. Phew! Now that’s a lot.

This episode is perfect for you if you want to learn how to create multiple revenue streams in your business and how to manage to get it all done too!

If you operate a business with any types of programs, products, courses and other offerings, you may have considered running some sort of affiliate program to recruit others to help share the news. But before you starting recruiting affiliates, there are a few things to consider before paying referrals to affiliates in exchange for sales those people bring you. In this episode of the Office Talk podcast, I’ll walk you through a few of the best practices to consider when implementing an affiliate program for your business.

This content is for your educational and informational purposes only and should not take the place of hiring an attorney. It does not create an Attorney-Client relationship between you and Annette Stepanian. Neither receipt of information presented nor any email or other electronic communication submitted or received will create an attorney-client relationship with Annette Stepanian. Any information that you provide by reason of your use of this content is not privileged or confidential. The law varies from state to state and based on the individual facts. Therefore, the information in this presentation may not work for your specific situation.

If you have specific legal questions, you should seek the advice of an attorney authorized to practice law in your local state or jurisdiction.

If you’re a blogger, or content creator in the online space, at some point you’ve probably thought about how to monetize your content. You might be thinking of getting sponsors or finding advertisers to get those Benjamins rolling in while while you focus on creating epic blog posts and content.

Or maybe you’ve wondered:

“Should I focus on building a large following?”

“Or forget the numbers and make reader engagement my number one priority?”

“When is the right time to approach a sponsor?”

In this episode, my guest is going to help us answer some of these questions! Bruno Bornsztein is the founder of Curbly, a website he created to explore the creative side of home decor and foster a community of people who love where they live. Bruno started Curbly back in 2006, so he’s seen it all when it comes to online trends and specifically, where the world of sponsorship is headed.

On this episode of Office Talk, I’m answering a question I receive quite a lot when I speak to event and wedding planners.

You see, since event planners are often busy executing and designing the event, there isn’t something tangible left for them to include in their portfolio. That’s why they rely on photographs to help showcase their work and promote their business and services to others.

So the question becomes….

Is there a way for wedding and event planners to legally require clients to contractually agree to provide them with access to professional images after the wedding? If so, how do they go about asking for permission?

This content is for your educational and informational purposes only and should not take the place of hiring an attorney. It does not create an Attorney-Client relationship between you and Annette Stepanian. Neither receipt of information presented nor any email or other electronic communication submitted or received will create an attorney-client relationship with Annette Stepanian. Any information that you provide by reason of your use of this content is not privileged or confidential. The law varies from state to state and based on the individual facts. Therefore, the information in this presentation may not work for your specific situation.

If you have specific legal questions, you should seek the advice of an attorney authorized to practice law in your local state or jurisdiction.

Do you feel like your website or your brand is missing a little somethin’ somethin’?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone and today’s Office Talk podcast guest, - Irene Hardy, the owner and creative director of Magnoliahouse Creative - is sharing some of her designer secrets to help you uplevel your brand.

In this episode, she reveals the crucial things that youneedto think about when developing your brand identity. Developing a brand is more than just picking a logo. Ultimately, it’s how you make people feel.

I also asked Irene to put my website to the test and perform a live brand audit of my website. (Yikes!) Tune in and learn from my mistakes as she points out areas where I’m doing things right and where I can improve.

Brands aren’t reserved for just large corporate companies. Even if you’re a solopreneur or a small shop, you’ve got a brand. So listen in on this episode to learn Irene’s best tips for how to create a brand that lasts.